Waikiki corporate developers can afford to lobby city representatives and public service department heads in such a way that they achieve large chucks of city money (even money they don't have) to be directed at replacing low income street artists in Waikiki with plants, tiles and lies.

The design is used to further steal away other people's land, (in this case public land) something of a territorial tradition since the overthrow of Queen Lili`uokalani in 1893 when a handful of rebel business men conspired with U.S. forces to oust the Monarch in Hawai`i.

Below are two articles about US big business holdings in these times of massive economic topsy-turvy..

March 03, 2011 DEMOCRACY NOW!
Juan Gonzalez and Amy Goodman interview David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize winner and author journalist/writer for Tax.com and formerly for New York Times:

"AMY GOODMAN: David Cay Johnston, I want to ask you about this issue of corporate taxes, in recent comments made by former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, the likely 2012 Republican presidential contender. On Saturday, he was interviewed by Lee Fang of the website ThinkProgress.org.

LEE FANG: Governor, today liberals are demonstrating all over the country in what CBS has called a liberal version of the Tea Party. Their main complaint is that a lot of corporations aren’t paying their fair share. For example, Bank of America in 2009 paid nothing in corporate income taxes. Same with ExxonMobil, GE and a lot of other big corporations. Do you think corporations like Bank of America should pay their fair share? What are your thoughts on that?TIM PAWLENTY: I think, actually, the corporate tax rate in Minnesota and in the country is too high. And one of the things, I think, we could and should do for our country—LEE FANG: You think zero is too high, with Bank of America paying nothing?TIM PAWLENTY: We have the highest corporate tax rate, or one of them, in the OECD nations—LEE FANG: But they use loopholes and offshore bank accounts to pay nothing.TIM PAWLENTY: Well, one of the things I’ve called for is reducing tax rates and looking at exemptions or special deals within the tax code that give certain companies privileges or benefits. I can’t speak to what any individual country—company would get in that regard, but I think one goal or direction for tax reform is to do a—simplify and reduce tax rates and clean out as many of the special deals as possible.LEE FANG: To be clear, do you think Bank of America pays too much in taxes alreadyPAWLENTY AIDE: I think he answered that question.TIM PAWLENTY: I don’t know firsthand what Bank of America pays in taxes. But I will just say, setting aside Bank of America, the corporate tax rate in the United States of America is too high compared to our competitor nations.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Well, corporate income taxes in this country are one-third lower than they were in 2000—that’s in my column this morning at Tax.com—even though corporate profits are up 60 percent and corporations have almost $2 trillion in cash. They’re approaching $7,000 of cash for every man, woman and child in the United States. They’re not investing this money. They’re not creating jobs. They are hoarding this money that they have pulled out of the economy. It’s one of the reasons we’re in so much trouble..."

“I got a call from the Marketing Department of Bank of America,” said Gibson, “I wonder what they want to talk about. Maybe some jobs have recently opened up there in that department.” "The $3 in my wallet is more than ExxonMobil, GE and Bank of America paid in taxes last year, combined," said Carl Gibson, founder of US Uncut Mississippi. "There's a direct connection between corporate tax dodging and what's happening to real people’s lives. Because of overseas tax havens and other tax loopholes, US corporations are making profits in America but barely paying taxes here. If we close those loopholes, we wouldn't have to be cutting back on firefighters, library hours and student loans."

US Uncut calls for an end to corporate tax avoidance instead of cuts to valuable public services. Anger is rising as Americans are being forced to endure brutal budget cuts at both the federal and state-level. Recent events in Wisconsin have inspired hard-working Americans to make their voices heard, and this populist message is spreading like wildfire across the country.

"See that FedEx delivery van go by on the roads you paid for? Pay up FedEx! Don't pretend you're not making billions in the U.S. Don't lie and tell us you made all those profits on some island with more palm trees than people. We know the demand for coconut delivery isn't that big.

These corporations are heavy users of our taxpayer funded public infrastructure and property rights protection systems. They use our regulated marketplace, call upon our law enforcement system and judiciary to remedy disputes. They're protected by U.S. police forces and firefighters. They enjoy all the privileges and benefits of tax-paying citizens. They just don't pay their fair share for them".